Make Some Magic
by TheFicGoblin
Summary: Glossaryck can tell that it ends. He can feel it. Magic destroyed, worlds cleaved together. That's all well and good for that timeline, but what could he do to shake this one up? Ah, Janna and Marco. How would they benefit from a more personal introduction to magic?
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hey all! This is probably one of my bigger ideas that I have been having such trouble getting down. Ever since Cleaved, I've been wanting to try out a new telling of the story. Obviously, it won't be a beat for beat retelling with only light pieces shifted up. How much _does_ change is currently unknown! You could call this the prologue, though, with the real big shifts coming soon!**

**And yeah, this is another Janna and Marco centric fic. Not necessarily Manna/Janco, buuuut...I think any of my regular readings might be noticing a pattern. More to come in the future!**

* * *

It was a small tremor, practically microscopic. The magical shockwaves that flowed through him were like constant stampedes of elephants and rolling thunder, while this one felt barely heavier than a beetle's footfall. Just a tiny pinprick of cold and emptiness.

Glossaryck winced, tucked between the pages of the spell book and simultaneously in the infinitude of the magical realm. That pinprick was digging into him like a dangerously persistent leech. He could feel when something shifted in the magic; when different dimensions pulled more and greater channels were opened up. When Star used a spell or the queen entered her Butterfly form; when the Magic High Council used their abilities or a young upstart dabbled in things far more dangerous than they had any right to.

More importantly, though, he experienced the flow of magic at all points. Not just in _space_, but also _time._ That's why this small dot of emptiness uneased him so, as it came from somewhere in his future. A future where he no longer was, where any of them were. A future where magic was killed.

Focusing on the pain of that timeline, Glossaryck poured himself into it, wondering what could have caused this. He was no fool, he held no fears of death or desire to preserve himself immortally. But that timeline was already set in stone, some version of himself already whizzing along the flow of time into one of his infinite possibilities of death. So now it was up to this version to make something brand new.

* * *

"Now that you've found your little book," Janna said, arm hooking around Marco's shoulder, "Let's make some magic with it."

"I don't need your help, Janna!" Marco said, ignoring the false sultriness to her tone and rebuffing her with a final, "Thank you."

"Whatever," Janna said, shrugging and hopping a few steps away, "You'll need me soon enough, Marco. Cuz I've got your house keeeys."

Marco growled lightly under his breath, before cracking the giant tome open. "Gotta stay focused," he said to himself, muttering, "Mewberty, mewberty, mewberty..." Marco flipped past pages and pages of the book, only finding odd spell illustrations and talismans tucked inside. "Ugh, this doesn't make any sense! Isn't there a glossary in this thing?"

Suddenly, the book shifted under Marco's touch. It shifted like it took in a breath, and the pages began to turn themselves rapidly. As it neared the back cover of the book, a tiny blue figure floated up and out of the pages. "Did someone say Gllllossaryck?"

"Whaaa-...?" Marco stammered, leaning away from the eldritch literature. This was turning into a much stranger exchange than he ever prepared for.

"Because that's me! Sir Glossaryck of Terms! At your service, milady," said the small floating figure. Marco raised an eyebrow, then scowled as the rest of the sentence registered.

"Ah, I'm not a milady," Marco said, trying to cut through the points. The tiny blue man, Glossaryck, looked him up and down.

"Could've fooled me," Glossaryck said, reaching a six-fingered hand out and floating the book closed. "Goodb-...!" That was when Glossaryck realized. While the circumstances leading to the unfortunate future were still a mystery, he knew that following his first instincts would lead to that result.

"Uh, everything alright?" Marco asked as the little blue man had stopped in mid-closing of the book. "I kinda need to help Star, and fast."

Glossaryck considered his position. His knee jerk reaction was to slam the book and refuse service to anyone that wasn't a magical princess. However…

"Ah yes, I suppose I do serve the owner of the book. And for now, that seems to be you." Glossaryck finally said, letting the book fall back open. "How can I be of service?"

"Uh, well Star's been acting real strange all day," Marco said, finally happy that something was working out today, "She said she's going through mewberty."

"Ah yes, strange spots popping up over her body?" Glossaryck said, "The growth of a few extra limbs and wings from her thorax?"

"Yeah she's had spots popping up all...wait, did you say wings?"

"That I did, my boy. But for now, that's unimportant," Glossaryck adjusted himself to the current time and, given the burst of unrefined magical energy he had sensed, calculated Star would be returning to normal at about 3:57. Or not, but that didn't matter right now. "You were looking for information?"

"Well, yeah!" Marco answered, exasperated, "What can I do to fix Star?"

"There's nothing you can do, I'm afraid," Glossaryck shrugged, "Mewberty is a natural part of life. Uninvited and completely unavoidable, like getting sidelined by a tire thrown down a hill."

"What? That's not an option," Marco said, "There's gotta be something to get Star back to normal."

"Of course there is, and that's to just be patient, kid. And stay away from her, if Star's anything like her mother she's likely quartering off some boys."

Marco grunted in irritation. Great! Awesome! Guess he's just on the sidelines again! At this point he wondered where Janna was; if there was no point to finding Star, he might as well go get his keys back.

"Now then, in the meantime, we should discuss your plans of study," Glossaryck said. Marco's eyes shot back up.

"My plans...study…?" Marco asked absently.

"Yes, and was there someone else rifling through the book before? I believe I felt another presence as I was handed off."

"Oh, uh..." Marco fumbled for his words, confusion growing by the syllable, "Well Janna had you for a bit, so..."

"Ah, wonderful. I don't believe I've ever had two pupils at once, perhaps that will shake up the results this time around."

Marco shook his head, "What are you talking about? Me and Janna, pupils? Are you nuts?"

"Listen, kid," Glossaryck said, floating himself closer to Marco's face, "I'll be really straight with you. My first instinct is to shut the book or ask for some pudding. Then somewhere down the line, I'd teach Star Butterfly certain aspects of magic and hope it all ends well. And I just found out my first instinct ends all magic."

"Wha-huh? Wait, back that up, what do you mean?" Marco asked, concerned and curious.

"Long story short, I think I need to throw in a wildcard or two. I need to muck up the timeline a bit and hope for the best," Glossaryck shrugged his shoulders, "It wouldn't be the first time. Had I not intervened, Star would have been sent to Saint Olga's instead of Earth. I can tell you, that timeline was particularly unfortunate..."

"Alright, timeout," Marco said, holding his hands up in the air, "This is all getting to be too much. I don't even know what you're asking me to do here."

Glossaryck rolled his eyes, lacing his twelve fingers together. "I'm asking you if you'd like to learn some magic of your own."

That hit Marco like a ton of bricks. "Magic…?"

"Yes, as it seems miss Butterfly has handed ownership over and I have landed in your capable hands."

"But how could I even do any of that! Star's, like, a completely different species! I think the whole mewberty thing kinda proves that, don't ya think?"

"Magic isn't some gland in a person's body," Glossaryck explained, seeming chuffed by all the questions. Didn't this kid understand the great gift he was being offered? "The only difference between you humans and mewmans is the exposure to magic. And that's easily remedied."

Marco felt like his head was swimming. This was a whole lot of information, and he felt a little bad for having this conversation without Star present. Maybe he should discuss it with her, get her feedback on this. Glossaryck tapped his fingers impatiently before Marco.

"This is a one time offer, kid. No follow up sales or extra coupons for one free magic upgrade. You either go find that Janna girl you mentioned and we make this all official, or I find some other point to muddle up the timeline."

Tensing up, Marco finally conceded. He couldn't lie to himself, with how cool magic seemed he was certainly interested in learning a thing or two. Glossaryck watched the contemplation, and checked on the watch he materialized.

"You've got 10 minutes before Star changes back and I take the chips off the table," said the floating blue being, "You can either rush off to Star like _your_ first instinct says, or you go get your new classmate and enroll in my class. Up to you."

Marco heard a small commotion behind him, coming from the direction of Star's locker. Despite this, Marco looked off in the direction Janna had run off to before. Marco cursed lightly.

"You promise Star's going to be fine and normal again at the end of this stuff?" Marco asked seriously. Glossaryck placed a hand on his chest while raising the other into the air.

"Book's honor," he said, "Probably."

"Probably?!"

"Get going. You only have 8 minutes and 52 seconds left."

Marco cursed, then stood himself up and made his split decision. Selfish as it may have been, he was not going to turn down the possibility of learning magic of his own. He hopped over the gigantic book, heading hopefully towards Janna.

"Hurry, kid! You don't want someone else snatching the book!"

"I get it, I get it!" Marco called back, peering around the corner of one school building, "Janna! Where are you?!"

"And bring me back some pudding!" Glossaryck called out, finally settling himself back into his place between the pages.

He had to admit to himself, this may not be his most well thought out interference in the stream of time, but with the prospect of magic being destroyed, he'd try just about anything. Besides, as Marco ran off to fulfill his end of the bargain, Glossaryck felt the calm serenity of the future once more. Nothing empty, nothing cold.

They were on the right track to keep magic alive, now.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Wow! People have been blowing up this and my other story! I feel so happy to see so much activity from it all! As I find out where this story wants to go, hopefully, I'll be able to write longer chapters as I figure out where in the heck I want all of this to go. I hope people enjoy it, and please Message me or leave a Review if you like it! That kinda thing always gets me fired up to write the next chapter!**

* * *

"Yeah, Marco. I'm down to learn some Magic."

Skidding to a halt, Marco had to whip his gaze all around himself. He had barely turned the corner when he heard her voice, and peering back saw Janna tucked away next to a line of lockers.

"Janna! I have something to-..." Marco paused, taking in what she had said, "...wait, you already…?"

"Yeah I've been listening in the whole time," She said, her hands tucked behind her back and her mischievous grin disconcerting. Marco groaned.

"Why am I not surprised…?" He said, exasperated.

"You'll learn eventually," Janna said, hopping off the wall and quickly closing the distance. "Or you won't, more fun for me that way."

Before Marco could answer, Janna had tossed something small at his chest. Smacking against his sweater, Marco fumbled with the projectile, nearly spiking it to the ground. As he finally held it in his grip, it clicked what it was.

"Pudding…?" Marco said, tentatively. Janna shrugged her shoulders, never losing the grin.

"That's what the little blue guy wanted, yeah?" Janna asked knowingly, "Least I could do."

"How did you even get this so fast? He just asked for it!"

Waving it off, Janna snatched the small dessert cup back. "I have my ways."

"At this point, I'm not sure you even _need_ magic..." Marco said, following along behind his exceedingly creepy friend. In the distance, Marco heard surprised yelps and intermittent noises that sounded like gusts of wind. Wings, perhaps?

"Ah! So you've returned." Marco was shaken from this distraction as they once again came to the tome. He had to admit, this still felt a little odd. He wasn't even sure he'd have any kind of aptitude for magic, and this was feeling a little like going behind Star's back. Janna held no such hesitance.

"That's right," She said, waving around the treat she had brought along, "Sounds like you're gonna make me and Marco witches, yeah?"

"That's about the idea, yes," Glossaryck answered, floating up and taking the cup of pudding from Janna and tucking it under his arm, "And you're already off to a good start. Janna, was it?" Janna nodded in response.

"Excellent, I think you'll both make fine... what was the word you used?" Glossaryck searched around for the term, meanwhile punching a hole into the top of the pudding cup and scooping out masses with his hand. "Ah yes, witches."

"Hey! Can you please use a more fitting term for me?" Marco said, averting his eyes as he saw Glossaryck stuff his six-fingered, pudding covered hands into his mouth, "Like maybe, I dunno...like a warlock?"

Janna rolled her eyes. About to get magical powers under an obviously powerful arcane presence, and he was getting worried over the job title. Janna kneeled down to be more eye level with Glossaryck.

"So what's the deal, what kind of stuff are we going to learn?" Janna asked. Glossaryck pondered, though the image of a wise figure was somewhat ruined by his pudding-stained face. Still, the small figure floated backward, the book flipping through its pages to various chapters.

"Well," Glossaryck began, swallowing the mouthful he had and digging for his next in the cup, "I believe you'll need to begin with the past queens' works."

"Past queens?" Marco said, "I thought this was just a magic instruction book."

Glossaryck began to speak, though his voice was muffled as he spoke through a full mouth.

"Um, please swallow, first..." Marco said. Janna perked up.

"That's what she said."

"Janna!"

Glossaryck finally swallowed, wiping his hand across his lips. "This book," he said, ignoring the distracting back and forth between his new pupils, "Is the collected works of all the previous queens of Mewni. All queens have created their own magic and developed their own specialties. For example..."

The pages began to rifle towards the front of the book, going to one of the earliest chapters. The section they stopped on had multiple illustrations of timepieces and clocks, as well as intricate calculations dotting along the margins. Strangest of all was an illustration of a large muscular man, running within an enormous hamster wheel.

"This is the chapter of queen Skywynne Butterfly and holds all of her research into the use of time magic. Very intricate, and admittedly dangerous."

"Wicked, I wonder if I could rewind someone back to being a baby," Janna said.

"That's horrible!" Marco replied, looking aghast, "You wouldn't really do that!"

"I don't know, Marco. You were such a precious baby according to those photo albums." Janna gave a wide roguish smile with half-lidded eyes. Marco found himself questioning how scary Janna would be with the addition of witchcraft.

"Anyway!" Glossaryck interrupted their thoughts, with the book flipping to between other chapters, "There is a multitude of things you could learn. There is Celena's work with potioncraft, and SOlaria's combat magic, and..."

"Whoa, go back for a sec," Janna said, her eyes widening. Glossaryck realized what she likely saw. Would it be too much, too soon?

Oh, he was already teaching two non-Butterflies this magic. They should at least know about _her_ chapter.

Flipping back to a section with dark pages, the entire chapter seemed to stick together in one block of paper. The front was sealed by a skull connected with blue chains.

"This is queen Eclipsa's chapter. The _forbidden_ chapter," Glossaryck clarified, hoping to instill the proper amount of respect into them. "You two are not ready for..."

"I found the one I wanna start with," Janna said, cutting Glossaryck off. He could have facepalmed.

"No. No no no no, absolutely not." Glossaryck said, slamming the book just as Janna had reached out to tug on the skull lock. Placing his feet down on the front cover, the small blue living embodiment of magic crossed his arms.

"Buzzkill," Janna said evenly.

"I mean if it's forbidden, I think it's better if we, ah, don't mess with it," Marco said, hearing Janna let out a small huff.

"Looks like our safety nut's got the right idea," Glossaryck said. Marco grimaced but was interrupted by small electronic beeping.

"Uh, what's…?" Marco began before Glossaryck held up his hand.

"Ah, it appears we'll need to continue this later," he said, looking to the small watch on his forearm. With a wave of his hand, the small device evaporated, and the book reopened. "We'll discuss the beginning of your training after you reconvene with Star. Until then, toodles."

The heavy book slammed shut, and Marco's expression fell. "Oh gosh, that's right! Star!"

Janna set her sights skyward, studying the cloudy overhead. "Easy there, Diaz. Don't get your undies in a knot."

"But I completely forgot about her!" Marco said, reaching down to grab the massive book, "Who knows what happened, or where she is?! Or…!"

Marco didn't get to finish as Janna smacked him lightly on the rear. Marco didn't even have time to look embarrassed as he looked up."Hit the deck!" Janna cried.

Marco looked skyward as well, eyes wide. The young boy crouched down and tackled Janna, rolling across the floor with her. Right where they had stood seconds before, a large metallic object came crashing down to earth next to the book of spells. The impact kicked up dust and debris, and Marco felt small bits of something showering against his back.

"Holy cow! What the heck was that?" he exclaimed, his voice panicked.

"Whoa..." Janna said from below Marco. Gazing down at her, he saw her eyes wide and staring. "I see...hearts..."

Marco felt heat raise up into his cheeks until he saw something fall in his periphery. Letting his vision wander, Marco finally saw the gray-purple bits that were raining lightly around them. It was tons of little hearts, exactly like the ones Star had been shedding all day beforehand.

"Uh, Marco? Not that this isn't entirely comfortable, but mind if I get up?" Janna asked, bringing Marco back to his current position.

"Oh, r-right," he said, bringing himself to his feet and grabbing Janna's hand to hoist her up. Looking around at the surreal scene surrounding them, Marco finally heard a heavy 'Oof!' directly behind them.

Finally looking back towards the book, Janna and Marco saw the initial impact had been Oskar's rusted-out car, looking even worse for wear than it always had. The chipped paint had spread like an explosion from the impact, and Marco realized his sweater was covered in the stuff.

Laying atop the hood of the vehicle was two figures. The first was obviously Oskar, his keytar looking snapped with various bits of rubber and plastic dusted over the car. On top of him was…

"Star!" Marco yelled, rushing away from Janna and carefully jostling the dazed girl.

"Huuuh…?" Star said groggily, brushing her blonde hair out of her face and dusting off the final few hearts that clung to her skin. Placing her hand down, she realized that the ground was warm and soft. Star finally looked down and gasped audibly.

"Oskar?!" she screamed, falling backward and nearly toppling off the hood. Marco hooked his arms under Star's and kept her from tumbling. Star was stammering, looking terrified and awestruck at the handsome truant before her.

"Oh gosh, oh geez, did I…?" Star asked, concern in her voice. Janna finally moved closer to the car, pressing two fingers to his throat and placing her ear close to his mouth.

"Nah, just barely broke anything," Janna said lightly, adjusting the motionless boy to a more sitting-up position on the hood, "He's just taking a bit of a snooze. Probably a bit of shock, maybe a bit of head trauma."

"Oh no! Oh that's real bad, right? Oh dear, maybe I can fix this! Um, uh, Marco!" Star whipped around, finally placing her feet on the ground and twisting to face her best Earth friend, "Did you get my book back from Ferguson?! I need to see if I can find something to fix Oskar!"

"Actually!" Marco said, raising his voice to cut off that line of thinking, "Don't you remember last time? You might end up replacing his brain with some dangerous parasite or something..."

"Heh, now that'd be an improvement," Janna muttered, ignoring the small glare she felt from Star.

"My point being..." Marco continued, also giving side-eye to a shrugging Janna, "We'll go get the nurse and see if she can help."

"He's gonna be fine," Janna said dismissively, pushing Oskar's legs to the side and slamming the giant spell book on top of the car. The entire structure wobbled from the weight and the abuse of the fall. "I know a concussion when I see one, the guy just fainted."

Star was about to ask how she knew so much but felt Marco squeeze her arm. As Star looked back, Marco said, "I'd… believe her. The creepier it'd be for her to know, the more likely she'll know it."

"Thank you, Marco," Janna said, her tone suggesting that she really did take that as a compliment.

"Well, then why are we taking out the book if…?" Star didn't finish as the book burst open, and floating before the trio was Glossaryck. Cracking his neck and taking in the scene around him, Glossaryck let his eyes pause on Star.

"Ah, good, you're back to normal," he said, fingers running through the snow-white beard (which still held bits of chocolate brown throughout). "That will make this easier."

"Easier? Make what easier?" Star asked, glancing from Glossaryck to Janna and Marco, seeing all of them with some semblance of familiarity. Glossaryck cleared his throat and flew closer to Star, floating inches before her face.

"Your friends here are going to help me on a bit of a pet project," Glossaryck said, motioning to his two new pupils, "I wish to see how humans handle magic. Given the number of monsters constantly attacking you and Mr. Diaz, it seems only right to prepare him more."

"Oh," Star said, letting it process in her mind, "...yeah! That makes sense!" Looking past Marco to Janna, though, Star contemplated the unfamiliar girl. "Um, but what about her?"

"I just offered him a bunch of pudding to cut me in," Janna said casually. Marco wished he had that kind of cool of a demeanor when it came to lying.

"Awesome!" Star said, looking back to Glossaryck before a question formed, "But wait… I thought there was no magic on Earth?"

"You are correct, Star. There isn't _yet_," Glossaryck clarified, before he held out his hand, "But we can remedy that for your friends here."

"Huh?" Star said, confused. Then she realized that Glossaryck was motioning to the item in her hand.

"Star, We're going to need your wand."


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Hey! Hope everyone likes this, I hope people don't mind that it's not a whole ton of action or silly moments, I will be the first to admit I don't know where this is exactly going! Just hope people have fun with it, and please leave a review! I appreciate it so much, and those kind words really help motivate me to do more! Thank you!**

* * *

Was this how Janna had expected the day to go?

Honestly, it wasn't that far off.

"So I just need to hold onto that wand..." Marco said, his motions still cautious, "...and then it's supposed to change? How's that going to help, again?"

Janna shifted herself on Star's bed, watching Glossaryck shake his head. "Yes, Marco. You don't have any connection to magic, just like the vast entirety of you earthlings. This is the simplest way to form a connection to the magical dimension."

It had been like this for roughly five minutes. After the mess at school with Star's mewberty episode, Marco was adamant about doing all the magic business once they were safely away back at his place. The promise of possibly unlimited magical power and he was still being the safe kid.

Not that she minded. Being overly cautious just meant she had more opportunity to mess with him.

"Oh just grab on!" Star exclaimed, sitting to Janna's right on the bed.

"You heard her, Marco. Princess's orders." Janna said, her usual sly grin ever-present. Marco shot back an exasperated look.

"I just wanna know what I'm getting myself into!" Marco shot back, "What if doing this makes me go through that mewberty thing?!"

"Oh come on Marco, you're still human!" Star said, trying to egg him on, "Mewberty is just for mewmans, right Glossaryck?"

Glossaryck had actually paused his floating, tapping his chin and looking towards the ground. "That is… actually a good question."

"What?!" Marco said, jerking his hand back away from the wand. "I don't need that!"

"Oh come on, Marco. Turning into a huge bug monster would be sick, even cooler than your monster arm." Janna said nonchalantly, pushing herself to her feet.

"Janna, you _saw_ how Star was!" Marco fired back, "We saw her snatch up Oskar! What if I did that to Jackie?!"

"Eh, at least you'd be making a move," Janna teased, stepping closer to Glossaryck. Before Marco could go on further, Janna shot her hand out and wrapped her fingers around the wand.

The flash of light made Janna shut her eyes for a moment, and she felt a small tickling sensation going over her right hand. Cracking open one eye to look through the light, she watched as the bright pink wand began to hum and vibrate. Butterflies in her stomach kicked into overdrive, and she felt ringing in her ears.

Then, it started to shift.

The wand grew longer, the handle almost a full staff length. As the bottom touched the floor of Star's room, the pink was overtaken by dark green and black spirals spreading up the shaft. The glowing head of the wand was quickly wrapped up in these dark ribbons, seeming to harden into a shell or cocoon. Cracks splintered the surface as six sharp hooked spikes broke out, with the rest of the shell falling away to nothingness.

Janna brought the staff's head closer to her face. Where the bright yellow star crystal had been before, now it was in the shape of a bright green diamond. "Huh, wicked. I think I might have beaten out your wand, Star." Janna said, smiling back.

"Janna!" Marco and Star both exclaimed, at different levels of excitement and worry. Both rushed Janna as she held the staff back, taking in the onslaught of words.

"That could've ended so badly!"

"That was so cool, your wand looks awesome!"

"You didn't know what that was going to do to you!"

"What's your first spell gonna be?! You can always try one of mine!"

"Enough!" came Glossaryck's voice, floating down between the trio and holding his hands up. "I'm sure we all like the silly talking over each other, but we are on a bit of a time crunch here!"

"Huh?" Star asked confusedly, "Why would we be on a time brunch? It's not like Ludo's around!"

"That's very much beside the point!" Glossaryck said, silencing any argument, "If the Magic High Commission catches wind of this..."

"The magic what?!" Marco exclaimed, though Glossaryck pinched his lips shut.

"If the Magic High Commission catches wind you'll all be in serious trouble," Glossaryck finished, taking his hands away and looking back to Janna. Seemingly distracted, Janna was tapping the bottom of the staff to the floor, watching as small dark green waves of energy seemed to burst out.

"Now Janna, to complete the process you'll need to..."

"Cast a spell?" Janna finished. Glossaryck stopped mid-sentence and put his hand together, a little put off. Of course one was a bit of a know-it-all.

"Yes, cast a spell. Anything will work, your magic is unrefined and will be willing to take any shape." Glossaryck said, moving himself to Janna's side. Janna herself looked the wand up and down and smiled devilishly, looking back to Marco.

"Janna, what are you…?" Marco asked worriedly, backing himself away. Star glanced back and forth between the two as Janna tapped the staff on the ground.

"_**Ethereal Scarab Swarm**_," Janna intoned, her voice then humming with energy. From the taps on the ground, it seemed like the floor broke open, and suddenly tens of hundreds of large beetles seemed to run up and out of the ground, all of them colored a deep and reflective green. As they all skittered towards Marco, he began to panic.

"What the heck!" He yelled, tripping backward onto Star's bed. The beetles seemed to follow him quickly, overtaking the top of the covers and still swarming to the fleeing Marco.

"No no no!" Marco said, rolling off the bed and darting towards the far wall.

"My bed!" Star yelled as well, rushing to the covers grabbing her blankets, "Get off! Off off off!"

"Janna, stop!" Marco yelled back as all the beetles surrounded him, crawling over his shoes. Or no, not over…_ through?_

"I don't need a bunch of weird creepy crawlies on my bed! Off, now!" Star said, gripping the edges of her blanket and trying to through the remaining beetles off. However, the insects seemed to fall right through the blankets, still very present of Star's bed.

Janna chuckled at her antics, reaching down and willing one of the beetles onto her hand. "Relax guys, they're totally harmless. Just little illusions or something."

Marco and Star both watched and Janna showed the bug off, having it pass effortlessly through her palm and forearm, seeming to burrow and leaving no obvious damage. Marco felt his stomach twist at the display.

"Well, certainly not bad for a first spell," Glossaryck said, floating himself high above the beetle swarms. Incorporeal or no, he didn't want to risk the spell going awry.

"That was amazing, Janna!" Star said, tiptoeing over all the intangible bugs, "Waaay less destructive than my first spell! Though a bit less cute too."

"Psh, what are you talking about? These little guys are adorable," Janna said, holding up the one still crawling through her arm. Star leaned in to look, only seeing the segmented body and strange beady eyes. Then, it hissed at her.

"Eep!" Star jumped backward and, similar to Marco, also fell back onto her bed. Looking to her sides, she saw multiple of the beetles just effortlessly walking through her midsection. Feeling the chill run down her spine, Star asked, "Um, Janna? Could you maybe get rid of these little things…?"

"What? No way, these are great. Don't even need to clean up after them." Janna said, watching the large swarm freely skittering around the gigantic room and up the walls to who knows where.

"Well, I've had enough of them!" Marco said, having carefully made his way back to Janna, "Come on, Janna, you need to..." Marco paused, and Janna gave him a quizzical expression.

"What, do I have something on my face?" She asked. Marco stared just below her eyes.

"Um, yes, actually..." Marco said. Janna was confused until she heard Star yell out.

"Oh my gosh! You have your magic dimples!" Star said excitedly, shooting back to Janna's side, "I didn't even notice with all the gross bugs roaming around!"

Janna was going to correct Star again on her beetles not being gross, but Janna quickly found herself dragged to the large mirror in Star's room. Feeling Star push her into position and poking at her cheeks, Janna finally peered in and saw what all the fuss was about.

"Huh," she said, a little blandly. On her cheeks were two marks, large circles with eight small spikes coming off. They were a soft purple color, but the design was unmistakable. "Suns, huh? I would've hoped for skulls."

"Yes, well, that does show you have connected with the magic," Glossaryck said, appearing over the mirror while seemingly standing atop two of the scarabs. Janna scratched her nails over the marks with her free hand, the other still fiddling with the staff.

"So what, I'm gonna have these things for like forever now?" Janna asked, glancing to her supposed new mentor.

"No, I don't imagine so. Not yet, at least," Glossaryck said, fingers tangling in his beard, "You and Marco will be like seeds. You'll need to push through the shell and grow up to really use magic, especially without the wand. Let's just call this the first bit of watering to get you going."

Janna shrugged, moving back around the mirror and watching Marco still cautiously glancing around at all the insects. "Hey Diaz," Janna said. Marco peered up, his expression almost worried, as Janna tossed him the staff. "Catch."

"Wh-hey!" Marco said, flubbing his words as he tried desperately to hold onto the item. Finally catching a grip along the shaft, Marco realized both what it was, and that his fingers seemed to push into the material of the wand.

"Huh, this thing is a lot softer than I… hey, what's going…!" Marco was interrupted as, Just like with Janna, the wand erupted in light. The staff actually seemed to lose color, becoming a dull grey and falling limp like rubber, held loosely in Marco's grasp. Then the piece began to wrap around his arm in a serpentine fashion, wrapping around his forearms and covering his right arm from wrist to elbow.

The large mass then seemed to sink into itself, gaining more detail. The grey became a bright shining silver with ornate engravings into various patterns. The bottom of the material shifted to a deep brown, becoming leather-like straps tying it tightly to his arm, now looking like a well-made bracer. Finally, the emerald crystal shifted to the middle of the bracer's face, tinging to a deep red and cracking out into a dark red ruby shaped like a crescent moon.

Staring down at it, Marco was speechless. "Okay! Well, this is officially nothing like I expected!" He said aloud. Janna and Star both made their way over, the beetles seemingly disappeared once their summoner disconnected. Both looked at the form of Marco's wand, Star grabbing his arm a little roughly and peering over it.

"Oooo…!" Star said, cooing over as she ran her fingers over the engravings, "This one's cool…! And hey, look! It's got your sun, Janna!"

"Hey, yeah, those do look a lot alike," Janna said, seeing a small sun carved into the surface of the bracer. "It's also got a moon one there, though, and that big red moon too."

"Can I get my arm back now?" Marco asked, feeling a little sore from the odd angle they were holding him in.

"I would have to agree with Marco here," Glossaryck said from the floor, the two beetles he had been on being the only to visibly remain, "We are trying to make this introduction somewhat quick, so please step back. And Marco?"

"Huh? What's up?" Marco asked, waving the slight pain from his arm as Janna and Star dutifully stepped themselves back.

"Could you try something less swarm-driven than Janna? I would prefer to not have dangerous creatures eat my first two earthling pupils."

Marco gulped. Right, that would be best to avoid. Staring down at his arm, Marco tried to think of something to call out for. Star had all her random fun spells, and Janna jumped right into creepy crawlies. But Marco? He knew how to _fight_, but…

Actually, maybe something like that?

Breathing deeply, Marco raised up his right arm, watching the glint of the crescent moon crystal. It wasn't gonna sound as cool as Narwhal Blast or Scarab Swarm, but he figured it would work. Making a fist, Marco uttered the words as Janna and Star saw his cheeks light up bright.

"_**Flame Fist**_," He said. The glint of the red moon flashed out, and suddenly Marco's arm was engulfed, a sizable torrent of flame surrounded the sections of his right arm not covered by the bracer-wand.

"Whoa!" Janna and Star both yelled, still standing far back. Marco actually laughed excitedly, waving the large appendage around.

"Holy cow! This is great! No, it's awesome!" He said, waving it around. Watching how the movements seemed more fluid than with his usual arm, Marco actually realized that the spell had actually done more than cover his arm with fire. Now, his arm _was_ fire!

This was way better than anything that happened with his monster arm!

"Star! Janna! Come on guys, come check this out!" Marco said, turning his attention back to them. The two didn't move, however, looking like they were sweating with their hair standing on end. Marco was about to ask why, until he heard a terribly annoying and familiar noise.

As a sharp and high pitched alarm started beeping inside the house, Marco realized he set off the fire alarm. Turning himself about, he saw that while _he_ wasn't being affected by the heat of his arm, the bed and side table were singed and smoking, mere proximity lighting them up. Having already set fire to the bed, Marco quickly let the warm and tingly sensation in his arm fade, watching the fires sputter out and reform into his normal arm.

"Aw man…" Marco said, looking at his now-bare right arm and muttering, "I burned off my sleeve!"

"Marco!" Star exclaimed, and Marco was suddenly tackled to the floor. Landing on his back with a heavy 'Oof!'

"Ach! Geez, Star, a little warni-... that's my face…" Marco said, interrupted as Star held his chin and turned it back and forth. Janna walked up and peered over Star's shoulders.

"Yup, you've got some too now, Marco," Janna said, grinning. Marco worried about what his cheeks looked like. Don't tell him he got a flower or something…?

"You've got moons!" Star said, pulling at the silver bracer on Marco's arm. Pushing it in a way that once again made Marco's arm uncomfortable, he saw the distorted reflection of his cheeks in the metal and saw the markings. True to her word, Marco had light golden crescent moons, the yellow bright enough against his skin that he almost thought they were stickers.

Star stood back up, dragging Marco along and grabbing both her new magic-using friends in tight side hugs. "Oh man, this is so great! We'll all be able to cast spells and blow stuff up and Marco we've got another person to go on adventures with and-...!"

"Star!" Glossaryck said, cutting through Star's ramblings. Star's voice caught in her throat, turning her attention back up to the small floating man.

Shaking his head and sighing, Glossaryck grabbed Marco's much larger arm and tugged it closer to him. "I'm happy to see all of you so excited to be playing around with magic, but we really must be careful." Glossaryck unlatched the buckles on the leather straps of the bracer, pulling the wand away from Marco's arm.

As Marco's moon marks faded away, he tilted his head. "You were mentioning that earlier. The 'High Magic Commission,' right? What're they, your bosses?"

"Ha!" Glossaryck said, his face entirely free of humor. Tossing the bracer to Star and ignoring the telltale sounds of it once again shifting, he continued, "Hardly. They're a few old projects of mine. Assistants to deal with the bureaucracy of magic and handle certain teachings to Mewni. And ones that have become a bit overzealous in their positions."

"Wait, so you're like their… parent?" Marco asked, rubbing his bare forearm, silently checking for any signs of burns.

Glossaryck seemed confused. "Parent…? Personally, I find that a bit small-minded," Glossaryck began to float himself back to the book of spells, sitting between its open pages, "I've been around since before that concept was conceived, but if you wish to see it that way, then… yes. I suppose I might be."

"Wow, got any embarrassing stories in case they come knocking on the door?" Janna asked, "I'll trade you for some of Marco."

"Hey!" Marco exclaimed. Glossaryck shook his head.

"I have too many to possibly count. Enough that I've lost interest," Glossaryck grabbed the edge of the book, beginning to fold himself back between the pages, "I'll get back to you on that trade, though."

And with that, the book slammed shut. The trio was left standing around, each feeling differently about the situation. Star was giddy, attempting her own versions of both her friends' spells and watching as more cutesy bugs and heatless rainbow fire sprung to life. Marco was nervously grinning and jumpy, moving towards the door and slipping his sweatshirt off. As for Janna…

"Well, I'm gonna start heading home," Janna said casually, wrapping her fingers around the large tome on the ground, "You mind if I still borrow this Star?"

"Oh no no no, go for it!" Star said excitedly, "You'll probably get more use out of that old thing than I will, now! Just promise to go a teeeeensy bit less of the creep-tastic spells, maybe?"

"Definitely no promises there," Janna said, heaving the book up and grunting, "Hey Marco! Help me carry this home!"

"Hang on, I need to get a new shirt!" Marco called back.

"Oh come on Diaz, show a little skin for once!"

"And risk a sunburn? No thank you!"

Janna shook her head with a happy sigh, the book balancing on her back with her hands hooked underneath. "That boy is such a weenie," She said, moving towards the door.

"Oh totally, but he's a great one!" Star laughed, holding the door open for Janna, "If you want I could help you…?"

"Nah, thanks Star but I wanna mess with Marco some more," Janna said, as though the prospect was the most satisfying thing in the world. Star shrugged her shoulders, watching as her newest friend and her best earth friend carried the massive book between them down the stairs, the whole floor seeming to creak beneath their feet.

Moving back to her bed, Star heaved a sigh of contentedness, letting herself fall onto her back. The faint scent of burnt feathers and brimstone still lingered from the edges burned up by Marco's spell. Star giggled a bit at that, _Marco's_ spell. Never in a million years would she expect him to be using magic. At least, none not incited by _her_, like the whole monster arm incident or the arcane battery still stuck in his vacuum cleaner.

She shook her head, how funny that a little mishap like that happened to them. Now with that cleaner and Marco training in magic, it's almost like he had his own wan-...!

Star sat up in bed, realizing that maybe Marco _did_ have his own wand, then! And if he did, so could Janna!

"Marco!" Star exclaimed to no one, hopping up and out of bed and rushing towards the stairs. She just couldn't wait to tell her this little bit of info!

* * *

In another place, in another dimension, and a transdimensionally similar time, sat three individuals around a long ornate table. Sat in the center was a dim crystal ball, flashing through various images of scarab beetles and torrents of flame, of yellow moons and purples suns. Sat at one edge of the table, one of the watchers gripped the edges of the table hard enough to crack the wood.

"This isn't right!" Said the figure, his voice accompanied by various hissing noises, "I don't trust those two, what is Glossaryck thinking?!"

"Easy, Rhombulus!" Said another individual, her voice flaring up like the single flame floating above her head, "We can't do anything yet, you know Glossaryck would wipe the floor with us. We need to be smart about this if we're going to…!"

The female voice was interrupted by the sound of a goat bleating. "But Chancellor, we can't just…!" Another bleat, and another sound of frustration from her. "So what?! We're just supposed to wait around and do nothing while they wreak havoc?! You know they're gonna attract some bad attention!"

A final bleat rang out, and both of the other individuals sighed and leaned themselves back against the chair. The images within the crystal subsided until only a skull-like face remained, surrounded by stars. "So we just wait around and watch? Wait until something goes wrong instead of preventing it?"

The head of the table stood, moving towards the large stained glass window. Silhouetted against the bright pink glass with their wings stretching out lightly, it was hard to tell whether they were more demonic or angelic. The figure nodded, casting the diamond-shaped pupils back to take everyone is.

With a low and demanding baa, the others stood and began to leave the meeting room, resigned to listening to the high Chancellor.

* * *

**A/N: I know, I know, another author's note but I feel justified here! I'm changing some things up here and there, including the form of Marco's wand. Why? Well, I always thought the design of his was a bit misleading/unfitting from my perspective, and hopefully, it's okay by y'all to have a slight bit of tweaking to that formula! Once again, please review even if it's just a tiny message! Love y'all!**


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